Jul 28 Walmart Curbside Pick Up for the Win!

The gist: Walmart’s FREE curbside pick up is available nationwide and it is AMAZING. It’s just one more thing you can do to make your already hectic life just a little bit easier so you can get your time back and ease some stress. Go here to see if it is available in your area (and get a $10 credit towards your first order!): http://r.wmt.co/f2-NB

That being said…

Grocery shopping with kids is just hard. So much temptation for the little ones, someone’s always overdue for a nap or a snack or needs to go potty, and exactly where are you supposed to put the actual groceries when you’ve got a cart full of kids?! Anyway, when we lived in Virginia there was a grocery store called Harris Teeter that actually had online grocery shopping and a drive through lane to pick it all up! You paid online and an employee would just bring those bags right out and load them into your car. Amazing…but pricey. Harris Teeter’s prices were a bit higher than you’d pay at Walmart or other large chain stores and there was a personal shopper fee attached to your total.

Now, about a year and a half ago I went on the hunt for a similar service or even a grocery delivery service here in Boerne, but didn’t have much luck. Just as I was about to give up hope, I discovered that Walmart offers online grocery shopping and curb-side pick up at locations across the U.S, including San Antonio! Then things got even better when they opened it up at the Boerne location this May. So, we’ve been using it since January 2016 and we’re hooked. Here’s a quick overview of how the process works:

-The online ordering process is easy and you can find everything you can in the store (even non-grocery household essentials like paper towels and diapers). Everything you purchase is automatically saved into your “Favorites” for easier shopping next time.

-The prices are the same as what you would pay in the store and there’s no additional “personal shopper” fee for using the service!

-Scheduling your pick up is easy; just choose a day and a one hour time slot (same day pick up is not yet available in Boerne but I expect that it will be in the next year or so, given our experience at the other location).

-There is a designated parking area on the left side of the store for pick up and a map will be sent with the confirmation email to make sure you know exactly where to go.

-Download the Walmart Grocery app and simply “check in” when you’re on your way. They will have your groceries ready for you when you show up and they do all of the loading; a quick signature and you’re all set. You don’t even have to get out of the car! (FYI: I have asked if we are allowed to tip and the answer was “No, Ma’am, we cannot accept it”) Also, you can actually grocery shop with this app which is awesome…I just carry my phone around the kitchen and go down my “Favorites” list checking the things that I need!

When you get home, you should notice that your eggs and other fragile items are bagged separately and marked with a “fragile” sticker across the top. I’ve never had a problem with smooshed bread or eggs or bruised bananas…everything is always well bagged and the refrigerated items are always still cold.

Now a couple of things that I’ve “heard through the grapevine”: 1) That Walmart will roll out grocery DELIVERY in 2017 with the help of Uber and 2) That HEB in Boerne will soon be offering their own grocery pick up service (it's already available at other HEB locations). I, for one, hope there is some truth to the HEB rumor as there are certain things we can only get at Walmart and certain things we can only get at HEB and it sure would be nice to be able to load curbside at both locations! FALL 2017 UPDATE: HEB has now implemented both curbside pick-up AND grocery DELIVERY with Shipt in Boerne! Woohoo!

As for the cons of the Walmart grocery pick up, there really are none that I can think of! The process is smooth, there’s no additional charge, and the employees are always super friendly and helpful.

So what are you waiting for? It’s a FREE service so give it a try and save your sanity while you’re at it (which is exactly why I’m categorizing this post as a “Seeds for SELF” post…because it really does make a difference to get that time back and to just be able to avoid that unnecessary stress, if you can!) Also, every now and then they send you home with a bag of freebies and who doesn't like freebies??